Ghosts of the Jaded Heart
by His.Infernal.Majesty
Summary: His mother died when he was five, leaving him nameless on the streets of L2...can a nameless 5-year-old find a way to live without friends or help? This is the story of the Shinigami, before he became so.


Hey! This is the newest story I've gotten the idea for. This story is the full life of Duo Maxwell…yet none of us know his real name. He added the name Maxwell after the whole church thing. So…I'm winging everything in this story except for the stuff that I knew happened. Oh, and the ages will be made up. Kay? If you want pairings, tell me. As long as Relena, Hilde, Catherine, nor any of the females are part of it. Kay? Good.

Let's Go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, do you think I'd be sitting here writing fanfiction?

Ghosts of the Jaded Heart 

Prologue 

The son of David James Xander was born on the Earth continent of America. If you had asked his mother what she thought of her little baby boy, she would say that he was a handful, but that she loved him with all her heart.

He was born with his father's face, hair and eyes…but his mother's attitude and lungs.

Everything was perfect for the little Earth family.

But as everyone knows, nothing remains perfect.

"Honey?" yelled out David , trying to rouse his wife. "Honey! Listen, we have a problem."

"What is it?" His wife's green eyes shone with worry, her black hair in disarray from feeding her 3-month old child.

"You know how my boss has been sending people to the colonies to expand our companies reach?"

"Yes…oh no. Which colony?"

"…L2."

"Oh…no…this can't be happening! L2 is the worst place to raise him!"

"I know, honey. But I don't have a choice. We're leaving in a week."

Both parents looked down at their child, fast asleep in his mother's arms.

"He's so beautiful. I hope we can give him a good life." David murmured, burying his nose in his wife's hair.

"I do too…oh god. Why did this have to happen now?"

"Better now than when he's older. That would make it harder on him."

"I know."

Adrienne put her baby in his crib, and kissed his forehead.

He whimpered in sleep. "Mmmph."

"I know, honey. Good night. I love you."

A month later found Adrienne, David, and their little baby in a small house on L2.

It wasn't the best place to live, but it was better than many other places they could be living in.

But after work, David came home from work with a bad cough.

"Are you sure you don't want to go see the doctor?" Adrienne asked for the fiftieth time that day.

"I'm sure, Addie. Now, let's get this little bundle to the party." David picked up his four-month-year old son and swung him around.

David had a business party he had to go to, and he was bringing along his pride and joy.

"Let's go." Adrienne picked up her purse, locked the door, and they were gone.

Once they got to the party, the baby was the center of attention.

The women cooed and coddled the little boy, while the guys dragged the father off to some other room to drink and congratulate themselves on being kings of the world.

Half-way through the party, the ground started to shake.

Everyone started to panic, David wrapping his arms around his wife and baby.

"Oh no…Honey, it's OZ."

Then, the ceiling started to collapse.

David pushed his wife out of the way of a falling beam, but was crushed beneath it himself.

OZ soldiers marched into the building, shooting everyone in site.

Not a half-hour later, everyone was dead.

Save for one baby. And his mother.

The mother pretended to be dead until the OZ forces left.

After that, Adrienne had to raise her baby all by herself while dealing with the death of her husband…it wasn't easy.

Her job as a waitress at a bar could only get them barely by, and her baby was getting steadily older.

When he was 10 months old, he took his first few steps.

Adrienne cried. They had never named their baby, because their family had a tradition of naming their children once they could speak.

After he turned a year old, it didn't take long for him to start speaking…

"Ma…ma…" he had whimpered.

She could never have been happier than at that moment.

Her baby became very intelligent, catching on to many things.

Once he became five years old, he noticed a million different things about his mother.

How she would come home with bruises or smelling like someone else.

"Momma?"

"Yes, honey?"

"What is your job?"

"…"

"Momma?"

"I…help please people, honey."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She smiled her bright smile at her son.

He smiled back. Anyone would kill for her son's smile.

Once he stepped into a room and smiled, even a morgue would be brightened past thought of comprehension.

Life with the two of them was happy as could be.

But, every five years a plague hit L2.

And his mother had a very weak immune system.

She never told her son that she had gotten the illness, for fear of worrying him.

But you can never hide anything from anyone for long.

Half-way through a lullaby, pain gripped Adrienne's heart…Oh no…

"Momma?"

Adrienne fell to her knees, clutching at her heart. "Oh…no…not now."

"Momma? Are you okay?" her little baby boy got off his back and got on his hands and knees, eyes filled with worry. His eyes, such a deep blue with purple tints, so like his father's…met her emerald-gold eyes…and she was calm for once in her life.

She didn't worry about the virus… "Honey…I want you to make me a promise…"

"Yes? Anything! What's wrong?"

"Honey, no matter what, don't forget that I love you. You're my precious little baby boy…my whole world…my reason for life. Remember the story about God I told you about?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, God has chosen that it's time for me to go…and I have to do what he says…I'm sorry, honey. But whatever you do, never go to the Sheron district…and no matter what, never stop trying to live. Never die until everything you've ever dreamed of…happens. Promise me…"

"I promise mommy…but…you can't leave me!" A few liquid crystals dripped from those blue-purple eyes, making them shine bright with sadness as his mind grasped what was happening.

"**Momma!**** No! You can't leave me! Momma! Momma!" **

Adrienne smiled once more at her baby boy as her heart collapsed…

Her breathing slowed…her heart shuddered to a stop.

A little boy's mournful wail of pain rang throughout the whole colony…

The next day, he left his home, a small bag over his shoulder and tears in his eyes.

The last thing in his life was gone…his shining light…his mother.

_Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't she stay? _

His mother had left him, and now he would have to find a way to live alone.

_I'm only five…how can I live on my own? _

He looked up at the sky, gripping the locket around his neck. "I promised momma I'd live, and I will. No matter what." With newfound confidence, the nameless boy walked down the street, hiding his pain with a wide, bright smile that was contagious…unknowing of the future laid before him.


End file.
